Scouting Report: Karim Bellarabi

Reports have surfaced that Karim Bellarabi has become a hot property. A lot of clubs — including Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool — are lining up a bid for this German international winger.

Bellarabi was born in Berlin on April 8, 1990 to a Moroccan father and a German mother. He was brought up in Bremen, where he used to play for the local teams FC Huchting, Werder Bremen, and FC Oberneuland. He then joined the under-19 squad of Eintracht Braunschweig. He made his debut for the club in 2008-09 season. He became a regular in Braunschweig during the 2009-10 campaign.

To Bayer Leverkusen

He joined Bayer Leverkusen during the summer before the 2011-12 season. Bellarabi didn’t make much impact in his 12 substitute appearances that year. 10 of those appearances came in Bundesliga matches. In his 188 minutes in Bundesliga action, he scored one goal and had four shots. He also had three key passes in that season.

He made 21 dribbles in the league that season; seven of them were successful. 73.1 percent of his passes were successful. He also opened his European account. Bellarabi scored one goal in his two cameo appearances in continental play. He also had one dribble and compiled a pass succession rate of 80 percent in those two matches.

He missed most of 2012-13 due to an injury, managing only 10 appearance that season. He had his first Bundesliga start in the season. In his eight starts for Leverkusen that year, he managed a pass success of 76.6 percent and made a total of 422 passes. His only goal of the season came in the UEFA Champions League. He had five key passes in Bundesliga and six key passes in Europe that season. Out of his 46 dribbles, 26 of them were successful. He won two of his attempted seven aerials.

After a injury-struck season that halted his progress, Bellarabi joined his former employers Eintracht Braunschweig on a season-long loan deal for the 2013-14 season. It was here that Bellarabi managed to finally kick-start his Bundesliga career.

The loan deal was massively successful for the player. Bellarabi made a total of 26 appearances for the club, scoring three times and assisting on four of his teammates’ goals. He had a pass success rate of respectable 70.4 percent and made a total of 507 passes. He had 28 key passes and a total of 85 successful dribbles on the stat sheet. 17 of his aerials ended as successful. He also had 54 shots registered to his name.

After a highly successful season with Eintracht Braunschweig in 2013-14, Bellarabi returned to his parent club. He has had a great start to the campaign. He has scored seven goals and had two assists in 14 Bundesliga appearances and has already taken 56 shots. Bellarabi has also made 62 successful dribbles, has a pass success rate of 63.3 percent, and connected on 376 passes.

International Caps

Bellarabi turned down a chance to represent his father’s country Morocco. After the decision, he played for Germany’s U-20 and U-21 teams.

After his impressive performance for Bayer, he earned his senior call-up for Germany in October 2014. He made his debut for Die Mannschaft in the 2-0 defeat to Poland. He has played three more times for his country but has yet to score a goal for Germany.